Jail was a set up, says Dunkley

After 47 days of incarceration in one of Burma’s most notorious prisons, Australian
Ross Dunkley
hasn’t given up on his ambition to become a media baron.

Dunkley, who has been released, is one of the lucky ones. There are 2076 political prisoners in Burmese jails, the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners Burma says in its latest monthly tally.

Dunkley’s previous local partner in his newspaper business is serving a 14-year sentence after falling foul of the ruling military regime.

“It’s about politics," Dunkley says from his office in Rangoon. “It has been from the word go. Of course I’ve been set up. Politics is an ugly business. I have 350 staff and the largest private media operation in the country.

“I’m the only foreigner operating here. I’m an unusual quirk of nature in Myanmar. They’re not quite sure how to deal with me.

“Am I necessary evil, should I really be here, is the question that’s being asked at this time."

The 53-year-old, Walkley award-winning journalist, runs The Myanmar Times, which publishes weekly in English and in Burmese. Its local language edition has readership of 350,000, Dunkley says.

The paper is heavily censored. Dunkley says many of its top stories are knocked backed each week by the repressive regime’s red pen.

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A new local partner, Tin Tin Oo, holds a 51 per cent stake and took over as chief executive after Dunkley was arrested in February on allegations he had assaulted a sex worker.

Dunkley was freed on bail last Tuesday. The alleged victim has asked to withdrew her complaint and the court will issue its ruling on April 4.

Dunkley also has an Australian partner for his newspaper ventures in Burma and more recently Cambodia. He is fellow West Australian Bill Clough, scion of the famous Perth resources and engineering dynasty headed by his father, Harold Clough.

The son has pursued his own mining initiatives, including through Twinza Oil, which has exploration interests in Burma, as well as Thailand, Papua New Guinea and Australia.

During his imprisonment, Dunkley’s supporters spoke of intrigue over the ownership and control of the paper.

Dunkley points to Burma’s changing political landscape and the obscure machinations of the ruling junta. And he acknowledges that he has many critics who have described him as “an axe handle of the government, a prostitute and all sorts of things," he says.

“You don’t just switch on and off a light for democracy," he says.

“You have to build up capacity. You have to train the editors and journalists of tomorrow.

“Where is that going to start? It’s not going to start from screaming from the grandstands about the wicked things I’m doing.

“It’s about getting on the football field and engaging people. Then you have a chance of scoring a goal."

Sean Turnell at Macquarie University specialises in Burma and its economy. He says The Myanmar Times, like all private sector enterprises in the country, relies on government favour for its existence.

“The situation is always fluid according to who your patrons and contacts are," he says.

“If you fall out of government favour, no matter what you’re doing, it will be a problem."